Royal Fleet Auxiliary Ships
RFA Argus A135
RFA Argus A135 is the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's Primiary Casualty Receiving and Aviation Training Ship and we see Argus anchored off the South Coast at Bournemouth during the 2014 Bournemouth Air Show on 30th August 2014.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4lliubMkV4
RFA Diligence A132
RFA Diligence A132 is a Forward Repair Ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and we see Diligence following laying-up at Portsmouth Naval Base on 15th July 2017. Formerly the MV Stena Inspector, she was completed in 1981 by Oesundsvarvet and served in the Falklands War in 1982 as a support ship. Following the Falklands, she was purchased for the RFA / RN and was laid-up in 2016. With a displacement of 10,595 tons she carried a RFA / RN crew of 140 and is currently at Portsmouth pending possible future sale. With HMS Illustrious, HMS Plymouth and HMS Onyx now scrapped, she is one of the few vessels to remain from the Falklands War.
RFA Fort Rosalie A385
Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fort Class Stores Vessel RFA Fort Rosalie A385 is seen anchored in Plymouth Sound off the Breakwater on 3rd March 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyzHxFLpvBo
RFA Gold Rover A271
Viewed from a Dockyard Boat Tour, we see the last surviving Invincible class Aircraft Carrier of the Royal Navy, HMS Illustrious R06 and RFA Gold Rover A271 berthed at Devonport Naval Base on 1st June 2013.
RFA Lyme Bay L3007
RFA Lyme Bay L3007, one of three 'Bay' Class Auxiliary Landing Ship Dock vessels of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, leaves Devonport Naval Base and passes Cremyll & Mount Edgcumbe as she heads from base to sea on 7th May 2018. Designed as a replacement for the Round Table Class logistics ships, the new design was based on the Royal Schelde Enforcer design; a joint project between the Dutch and Spanish resulting in the Rotterdam-class and Galicia-class amphibious warfare ships, with the main difference being that the British ships lack a helicopter hangar. Completed in 2007, 'Lyme Bay' has a complement of 60 crew and has a displacement of 16,000 tons and is powered by two Wärtsilä 8L26 generators, providing 6,000 horsepower and two Wärtsilä 12V26 generators, providing 9,000 horsepower, resulting in the ship having a maximum speed of 18 knots with a range of up to 8000 miles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wfX2yDkXtU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wfX2yDkXtU
RFA Mounts Bay L3008
RFA Mounts Bay L3008, a 'Bay' class Landing Ship Dock ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, leaves Devonport Naval Base as she heads from Base (No. 11 wharf) to Sea on 11th December 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB5xJfSwmH0
RFA Tidespring A136
One of the four new Royal Fleet Auxiliary 'Tide' Class Fleet Tankers that support the two Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers, RFA Tidespring A136, enters Devonport Naval Base at Devil's Point on 19th July 2018. Commissioned into the fleet in November 2017, RFA Tidespring was the first of four new 'Tide' class that have been built by Daewoo Shipbuilding, and with a displacement of 37,000 tons, these replenishment fleet tankers are now amongst some of the largest vessels to enter Devonport. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwgHDVu5awc
One of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's newest tankers,'Tide' Class Fleet Tanker RFA Tidespring A136, passes Royal William Yard and enters Devonport Naval Base on 19th July 2018. At 37,000 tons, these 'Tide' Class Tankers, built by Daewoo Shipbuilding in South Korea, are now among the largest vessels to be regularly seen at Devonport. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXLo9PaNz34
RFA Tidespring A136, one of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's four new 'Tide' class fleet tankers, leaves Devonport Naval Base and is eased down the River Tamar at Devonport Pontoon / Cornwall Beach as she heads from base to sea at 0845 on Sunday 13th January 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLV77U1F-1o
RFA Tidespring A136, one of four 'Tide' class Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fleet Tankers, is seen leaving Devonport Naval Base at Rusty Anchor off Plymouth Hoe on 13th January 2019 as she heads from base to sea at 0845. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--mXrhNStG4
RFA Tideforce A139
Filmed from Down Thomas, Royal Navy Type 23 Frigate HMS Argyle F231 is seen passing brand new RFA 'Tide' Class Fleet Tanker RFA Tideforce A139 at the Breakwater in Plymouth Sound as she enters Devonport on 5th July 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFEomkTkT_M
RFA Wave Knight A389
In an attempt to replicate a similar piece of filming from the classic 'Sailor' TV series featuring HMS Ark Royal IV R09 at the same location filmed in the mid 1970s, Royal Fleet Auxiliary 'Wave' Class Fast Fleet Tanker RFA Wave Knight A389, is seen leaving Devonport Naval Base from Plymouth Hoe as she heads from base (5/6W) to sea on Sunday 28th April 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4oqFR4XtmU
Vessels contracted to the MOD (RFA)
MV Hurst Point
FSL / MOD (Royal Fleet Auxiliary) 'Point' Class Ro-Ro Sealift Ship MV Hurst Point passes Rusty Anchor, Plymouth Hoe as she enters Devonport Naval Base on 4th August 2018. The Point-class are designed by Houlder Ltd for the strategic transport of military cargoes and vehicles in times of need. The Ministry of Defence has purchased a 22-year charter from Foreland Shipping who own, operate and crew these ships when they are not required for military service. A class of six ships, MV Hurst Point was commissioned in 2002 and is powered by two MaK 94M43 diesels which generate 21,700hp with two propellers, and has a displacement of 23,000 tons. As I filmed her coming into Devonport, I remembered being taken as a 9 year old by my father to Devil's Point, to see MV Atlantic Conveyor leave for the Falklands in 1982, tragically never to return. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW0xU-R6MJ4